Let’s face it; we all work on limited time. If we could selfishly dedicate even 50 percent of our time to only our online content, we’d all have a website, blog, and social media outreach to be proud of; one we’d smile about, do that chin nod at, and say, “Yeah, I did that!” But in reality, we don’t have the time. Running a business is a marathon that always results in the same conclusion, “There just aren’t enough hours in a day.” There’s got to be a solution, right?
The Solution to Limited Time: Repurposing Content
You’ve heard about repurposing content. If you haven’t done it, though, you probably don’t know what the big deal is. Content repurposing is the ultimate way of getting the most mileage out of your content. It’s a process that can, if done right, save you time and make populating your online presence with relevant and engaging content a bit easier. Did you know that, with a little preparation and planning, you can repurpose every piece of content you write? Actually, even if you haven’t done any planning, you can repurpose straight from your blog archive.
Revamping vs. Repurposing
Before we dive into just how to repurpose your content, let’s get something straight. There is a difference between revamping and repurposing content. These terms are not interchangeable. In one of our guest blogs on SiteProNews.com, we briefly touched on the differences.
Content revamping occurs when you:
- Upgrade formatting and structure.
- Return to your best ideas and reinvent them.
- Re-introduce a previous idea by giving it new meaning.
- Create content that serves the same purpose but responds to new needs or demands from your audience.
Content repurposing occurs when you:
- Use your already written material to attract an entirely new type of reader.
According to Kevan Lee of Buffer Social, content repurposing is packed with benefits. It can boost your SEO, reach a new audience, reinforce your message, and even gain extra authority.
Resuscitate Your Content
All you need to resuscitate your content is to find what Lee calls your “evergreen content.” Evergreen content is timeless and high quality. It’s those blogs and articles that are always relevant no matter the date and have driven traffic to your website. Here’s a quick step-by-step guide for shocking life back into your content:
- Step 1: Review your blog archive. Check your site analytics. See which posts, and even pages, are the most popular. Of these, choose the posts and pages that have timeless content.
- Step 2: Review the topics. Once you’ve nailed down those head turning topics, re-read them. Can you expand on the topic further? Has something changed in the news since you published the piece? Is there some cutting edge innovation you could update your audience about? Have you learned something new that you can share?
- Step 3: Brainstorm a fresh approach. Use your popular content to brainstorm a fresh approach. It can involve anything from publishing an update to putting a new spin on the content. Be creative, and think about how you can reach a new or broader audience.
How to Repurpose Every Piece of Content You Write
The key to tapping into your own content is to revisit your website, blog, or social media presence with a fresh perspective coupled with creativity. You have to think outside of the box, and here’s how you do it:
- Try a new media type: You’ve already published this topic as a blog or webpage. You have some additional material, experience, or even a new perspective to write a fresher piece. But who says you have to write another blog or webpage? Nobody! One great way to repurpose content is to try a new media type. Instead of writing yet another blog, why not create a presentation, video, infographic, white paper, or some other type of media?
- Reach every member of your audience: Who reads blogs and webpages? Usually it’s the audience who are either researching or have time to read. How effective has your content been at reaching the super active audience member who only has about five to fifteen minutes of commute time on the subway to revel in your content? Probably not very. Consider catering to these audience members by means of a podcast. It’s something they can listen to on the go, and it’s likely they’ll fall in love with you because they just don’t have time to sit and read. The lesson is to think about your audience and find ways to reach each member.
- Reach a new audience: Expansion is the pulse of business. In order to continually generate leads, we simply must expand to new audiences. You can easily repurpose every piece of content you write simply by brainstorming ways to make is more appealing to that new audience or target consumer group you are attempting to reach.
- Repost via social media: Knows the value of evergreen content. It’s like finding the sweet spot of content creation because you can always repost and re-promote your evergreen content via social media. It’s timeless and high quality. All it needs is a fresh repost here and there. The trick is to not overdue it. Recirculation works once or twice when spaced out, but it won’t work forever. You will still need to repurpose the original piece with a new spin in order to keep your content fresh and relevant.
- Use Canva: This free image tool can do wonders with plain text content by transforming it into highly-appealing, engaging visual content such as inspirational quotes, Infographics, posters, flyers and so much more. This is a great way to create visuals out of re-purposed content.
Repurposing is a fantastic way to populate content without draining your time. Reworking a piece of content usually takes half the time when compared to the original creation process. And if you hire out repurposing a blog into an infographic or presentation, you’re making a wise investment. There are tons of repurposing tools at your disposal today.
Additional Awesome Ideas
Content repurposing doesn’t stop here! You can repurpose every piece you write simply by staying creative. A little outside help is never a bad idea either. Quick Sprout’s Complete Guide to Building Your Blog Audience has a chapter dedicated to repurposing content, and it’s bursting at its page borders with more awesome ideas you can apply.
